詩歌欣賞：Jorie Graham《Why》

This poem was freshly published on New Yorker July 14, 2021. It’s interesting and special in sentence pauses and word uses. See the brief introduction about the author, a currently well known poetess at the bottom. 

這首詩剛剛在 2021 年 7 月 14 日在《紐約客》上發表。它在斷句和單詞使用方麵很有趣也很特別。 見底部的作者簡介。作者是一位當代為人熟知的美國女詩人喬莉·格雷厄姆，哈佛教授。

Click the link below to listen to reciting of the poem by the author herself:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/05/why/amp


Why
By Jorie Graham

you ask me
again—why
putting your tiny hand on
the not yet

unsheathed
bud on the
rhododendron
and I see

I need to be sky
I need to be soil
there are no words
for why that I

can find fast
enough, why
you say at
the foot of the cherry’s wide

blossomfall
is it dead now why
did it let go, why,
tossed out

into what appears
to be silence
when I say
let’s run the

rain is starting—why
are we lost why did
we just leave
where we just

were why is
everything
so far behind
now as we go on I

see you think
when you reach
me again to ask
why when I say

are you coming now &

you say no,
I want to stay, I want
things to stay, I do
not want to come

away from things—what
is this we are
entering—me taking yr
hand now to speed

our going
as fast as we can in this suddenly
hard rain, yr
hand not letting go

of the rose pebble u found
feeling the first itching of
personal luck as
you now slowly

pocket it thinking
you have taken
with you a piece of
what u could not

leave behind. It is
why we went there
and left there.
It is your why.

 

Why
《為什麽》

（翻譯：忒綠）

you ask me
又一次
again—why
你問我 - 為什麽
putting your tiny hand on
你把小手放在
the not yet
還沒有

unsheathed
出苞的
bud on the
杜鵑花的
rhododendron
蓓蕾上
and I see
而我明白

I need to be sky
我需要成為天
I need to be soil
我需要成為地
there are no words
可也沒有發現任何詞語
for why that I
來回答為什麽盡管我
can find fast
盡力地
enough, why
搜尋，看著
you say at
櫻樹
the foot of the cherry’s wide
樹根處成片

blossomfall
凋落的櫻花你說為什麽
is it dead now why
它會死為什麽
did it let go, why,
讓花掉落下來，為什麽，
tossed out
被靜默地

into what appears
丟棄
to be silence
在那裏
when I say
當我說
let’s run the
我們快跑雨

rain is starting—why
就要來了 - 為什麽
are we lost why did
我們迷失了為什麽
we just leave
我們非要離開
where we just
我們剛剛到達的地方

were why is
為什麽
everything
任何事情
so far behind
都遠遠地落在了
now as we go on I
我們現在前行腳步的後麵我

see you think
看見你又一次思索著
when you reach
走近我
me again to ask
問為什麽
why when I say
在當我說

are you coming now &
你現在要過來嗎而

you say no,
你說不，
I want to stay, I want
我想停留、我想讓
things to stay, I do
事物停留，我
not want to come
不想離開

away from things—what
這些事物 - 這
is this we are
是我們正在進入的
entering—me taking yr
東西 - 我現在拽著你的
hand now to speed
手加速

our going
前行
as fast as we can in this 
越快越好在這一場
suddenly
突然降臨的
hard rain, yr
暴雨裏，你的
hand not letting go
手沒有拋開
of the rose pebble u found
你發現的那塊玫瑰色的鵝卵石
feeling the first itching of
帶著自己渴望第一次得到滿足
personal luck as
的欣慰
you now slowly
你慢慢地

pocket it thinking
把它放進口袋裏心裏想著
you have taken
你懷揣了
with you a piece of
一件
what u could not
你終究不能夠

leave behind. It is
舍棄的東西。這是
why we went there
為什麽我們去了那裏
and left there.
又離開那裏。
It is your why.
這是你的為什麽。

Author: Jorie Graham
1950–

One of the most celebrated poets of the American post-war generation, Jorie Graham is the author of numerous collections of poetry.

Jorie Graham was born in New York City and raised in Rome, Italy. She studied philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris before attending New York University as an undergraduate, where she studied filmmaking. She received an MFA in Poetry from the University of Iowa.

She has taught at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is currently the Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard University.

About her work, James Longenbach writes in the New York Times: “For 30 years Jorie Graham has engaged the whole human contraption—intellectual, global, domestic, apocalyptic—rather than the narrow emotional slice of it most often reserved for poems. She thinks of the poet not as a recorder but as a constructor of experience. Like Rilke or Yeats, she imagines the hermetic poet as a public figure, someone who addresses the most urgent philosophical and political issues of the time simply by writing poems.”